Media management for groups of media items

Abstract

Improved techniques to utilize and manage a group of media items (or media assets) on a computing device are disclosed. The group of media items can be utilized and managed at a host computer for the host computer as well as a media device (e.g., media player) that can couple to the host computer. One popular example of a group of media items is know as a playlist, which can pertain to a group of audio tracks. One aspect pertains to a graphical user interface that enables a user to trade-off storage capacity of a media device between media asset storage and data storage. Another aspect pertains to a graphical user interface that assists a user with selecting media items to fill a group of media items. Still another aspect pertains to providing a persistent media device playlist at a host computer. Yet still another aspect pertains to imposing capacity limits to a playlist, such as a media device playlist.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 642,334, filed Jan. 7, 2005, and entitled “MEDIA MANAGEMENT FOR GROUPS OF MEDIA ITEMS,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.[0002]This application is related to: (i) U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 097,034, filed concurrently, and entitled “PERSISTENT GROUP OF MEDIA ITEMS FOR A MEDIA DEVICE,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; (ii) U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 973,925, filed Oct. 25, 2004, and entitled “MULTIPLE MEDIA TYPE SYNCHRONIZATION BETWEEN HOST COMPUTER AND MEDIA DEVICE,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; (iii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 833,879, filed Apr. 27, 2004, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SHARING PLAYLISTS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein; (iv) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 833,399, filed Apr. 27, 2004, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURABLE AUTOMATIC MEDIA SELECTI...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is about improving the use and management of media items on a computing device. It provides techniques for creating and managing playlists of audio tracks, as well as a graphical user interface for doing so. The invention also allows users to trade off storage capacity between the host computer and a media device, and provides a persistent playlist for the media device. Additionally, the invention allows users to reserve storage capacity on the media device for non-audio track data. Overall, the invention enhances the user experience and makes it easier to manage and use media items on a host computer and media device.

Problems solved by technology

Often, the amount of media assets at the host computer exceeds the storage capacity of the media player.

In particular, if the media player is not connected to the host computer, then the media player is not a media source and, therefore, its media assets cannot be managed at the host computer.

This can be a disadvantage for users that want to manage the media assets provided on the media player from the host computer.

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